Workers' Compensation News

On March 6, the California Court of Appeal issued its decision in County of San Diego v. WCAB (Pike), holding that for injuries on or after Jan. 1, 2008, an injured worker is not entitled to recei...Read More

The Olympics have concluded. Watching the athletes reminds us that, even when you try your best, you cannot win every time. In this edition of the Bulletin, we report on some recent wins and losses.
Defining 'sudden and extraordinary'
On Feb.&nbs...Read More

Workers' compensation medical networks have always provided a large return on investment. Injured employees receive the best medical treatment, and the employer cuts its workers comp costs.
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I have written often that China’s banking crisis could cause quite large rumblings in most of the domestic financial markets, including insurance. Where would the crisis be the most devastating?
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After considering a motion brought by the plaintiffs in 46 actions pending in nine federal districts across the country, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) entered an order on Tuesday, transferring those actions to the Northern District of Ohio for coordinated or consolidat...Read More

There are a lot of important conversations happening surrounding the challenges of caring for the nation’s injured. One of the biggest challenges we face is opioids, and the challenge can be distilled down to the following points:
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When I started working in workers’ compensation I was a hearing representative traveling throughout the state to every board as a lien claimant. There were far fewer liens in Northern California. It was not uncommon to see just one or two liens associated with a claim.
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The accident curve measures the accident rate lessening per unit of work time. The concept has been debated over time. A search far and wide located a 1916 text that actually addressed this issue very well.
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These five silent risk management mistakes in workers' comp never show up on a graph, chart or in a report. After all the RIMS buzz last week, I decided to cover the mistakes I have seen in my 27 years in the insurance business from a risk management standpoint.
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On Thursday, March 2, 2017, the world lost a beacon of hope and perseverance when my friend and client Dwight Johnson passed away. Dwight’s life and story are amazing, and are ones I feel obligated to share.
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Today's Round Up

03/20/2018 |
39 |
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min read

The North Carolina Department of Insurance has hired 15 new agents to fight a rising tide of insurance fraud.
Mike Causey
The state's General Assembly last year appropriated $2.4 million to hire the agents after fraud arrests jumped to 334 in 2017, a 60% increase from the previous year, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said in news release. Each month, the department receives 400 to 500 fraud complaints, Causey said.
The new agents were trained at the department's anti-fraud academy and include a crime analyst, forensic accountant, attorneys and special agents.
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03/19/2018 |
160 |
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37 min read

Texas could make better use of stop-work orders to crack down on employers who misclassify workers as contractors to avoid paying workers' compensation, a Washington, D.C., think tank said this week.
Andrew Elmore
The Migration Policy Institute, which studies migration worldwide, on Thursday released a study that shows immigrants are twice as likely as native-born workers to be employed in industries in which labor violations are widespread.
Misclassifying workers as independent contractors is common in low-wage businesses, the report said.
Some states, including Texas, are not ...
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